Barriers to Care for the Complex Presentation of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Other Post-combat Psychological Injuries

Despite significant efforts to mitigate the psychological distress associated with combat, a significant number of military personnel deployed to war in Afghanistan and Iraq return with psychological injuries requiring care and treatment. Unfortunately, there are significant barriers to the effective delivery of care for these post-combat psychological injuries. This chapter examines a number of these challenges with a focus on aspects of the clinical presentation, stigma, interaction between provider and client, and mismatch between the culture of military troops and that of the psychological care professional. The authors then explore ways that psychologists and other healthcare providers may contribute to lowering these potential barriers to care by reducing stigma, promoting accurate communication about psychological symptoms and injuries, and increasing the understanding of psychological injuries including the complex clinical presentations that frequently arise in the aftermath of combat exposure. Future directions for improving the care and treatment of PTSD and other post-combat psychological injuries are presented.